The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-07-22
THE ISLE OF SANTA CRUZ.

|
A Bit of Italy In the Pacihc-The
Charms of a Little known Spot
Less than thirty miles distant from
the western seaboard of these practi-
cal matter-of-fact United States of
America lies an island which in the
! picturesque beauty of its scenery and
nationality and language of its inhab-
itants might almost lead one to be-
lieVe that in some mysterious manner
it had been uprooted from the bosom
of the classic Mediterranean and trans
| planted to the waters of the Pacific.
Like the storied isles of Capri and Is
CHA, its mountains, rising here and
there abruptly from the sea, mirror
their rocky walls, their frowning bat
Elements, their stupedOus cliffs in wa
ter as deeply blue, as wonderfully limp
id as that which elicits exclamations of
enthusiastic delight from the tourist
visitors to the Blue grotto. These
mountains blush as warmly to the
morning and evening kisses of the sun
as those which look down upon the
Bay of Naples; the sky above them is
as rich in coloring as the famous sky
of Italy, and the dwellers in this beau
tiful, almost unknown spot are natives
of that sunny land
An Italian fishing boat bore me to
| the island. All day we tloated almost
| idly upon the bosom of q tranquil sea.
The breeze that in the early morning
! had gently distended the light canvas
Of the quaint lateen sail died away,
having waited us scarce two leagues
from the mainland, and there we lay
basking in the hot sunshine though it
was in December-gazing with placid
enjoyment upon sea and sky and dis
tant mountains and noting the ever
changing wondrous tints that fitted
over each and all of these. Only the
lazy blowing of sleepy whale. the
| splashing downward-plunge of bask-
Ting shark, affrighted by our vicinity,
the Tapping of the sail, broke now and
then the profound stiffness. Then
long before this had become in the
slightest degree irksome, a faint blue
line far. far away drew itself across
the CLASSY whiteness of the ocean, and
at its first breath the gentle breeze
called forth r1ppling answer from the
bows of our little vessel, and away we
sped toward the distant island.
Higher grow the mountains as we
approach them. Wonderfully beauti-
ful they are in the evening light And
now there is no longer silence. The
roar of the surges breaking against
| the rocks, the bowling and barking Of
/ hundreds of sea-lions, the screaming
of thousands of sea birds whose nests
| hoieycomb the face of the mighty
cliffs, strike upon the ear in most inn
| posing medley of sounds. Now we
can see the line of white foam marking
the breakers, now note where centur-
les of strife between sea and rock have
worn deep caverns in the latter, into
which the pillows rush with sullen
roar and hollow booming, to emerge
again in clouds Of creamy foam and
glistening spray.
One cavern Iexplored, penetrating
at least forty yards into the base of the
cliff. The entrance was somewhat
similar to that of the Blue grotto, the
interior much grander, though per-
haps less beautiful The mighty vault
overhead was supported by a number
Of pillars so cunningly wrought by ma
ture as TO appear to have been fashion
cd by the hand of man. Here, where
the suns direct rays were excluded
aEd the eyes consequently undazzled by
| their reelection from the water every
rock and she'll, every bit Of weed and
moss upon the bottom, though many
fathoms deep. was most distinctly
visible. Huge crawfish (the lobsSers Of
the Pacifc) crawled slowly about
through forests of waving seaweed
and over miniature submarine noun
tains in search Of their prey. Fishes
innumerable and literally of all the
colors ofthe rainbow darted hithey and
thither among the rocks. IL was like
. gigantic aquarium without the nalti-
tude OF sightseers and without adj
mission fees.
Casting the net one day under tho
shadow OF huge overhanging cliff. It's
meshcs were plainly visible, suspended
| just above the bottom, and the whole
process Of the capture of the ash was
distinctly observed A largo school Of
smelts came flashing through the
depths, flying fromIsome fierce enemy.